Maybe It’s the $25 That Really Counts

Jim Bouton, a member, has called the Shrine of the Eternals wing of the Baseball Reliquary in Pasadena “the people’s Hall of Fame.”

In this case, people earn their ballots by paying a $25 membership fee.

Reliquary voters have different criteria from Baseball Hall of Fame voters, hence their choices this year -- Jim Abbott, Ila Borders and Marvin Miller are in; Roberto Clemente and Jackie Robinson still are out.

Potential inductees are chosen, according to the organization’s Web site, for their impact on baseball “in ways that do not necessarily have anything to do with statistics.”

To wit: Abbott, who was born without a right hand, won 87 major league games and threw a no-hitter in 1993. Borders, a woman from Whittier, pitched in a men’s professional league -- the independent Northern League. Miller, as union chief, led baseball players through the start of free agency and five strikes and lockouts.

They will be inducted July 20.

Trivia time: What Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback has come out of retirement this spring and is trying to make the roster of the Green Bay Packers?

Details: Facts from sailor Brad Van Liew’s solo race around the world:

Time at sea: 148 days 17 hours 54 minutes 42 seconds.

Dehydrated food pouches consumed: 225.

Hours sleeping: 668.

Showers: Same as the number of toilets on board -- 0.

Think he got a hug and a kiss when he finished?

No horsing around: For racing fans, there’s a natural upside to a gelding finishing first in the Kentucky Derby. That is, since Funny Cide probably won’t be retiring for a while, there will be plenty more opportunities to watch him race.

Instead of generating as much as $200 million in stud fees -- Seattle Slew, for example, earned as much as $300,000 per foal during his peak years and had 1,066 offspring -- the best thing Funny Cide can do is run.

But Funny Cide’s victory is good news for his sire, Distorted Humor, who will be getting more action -- and for a higher price.

Experts say Distorted Humor’s $20,000 stud fee should double, perhaps even triple.

Head games: It’s Pedro Martinez Bobble-head Day -- but not in Boston.

The Montreal Expos, one of Martinez’s former teams, are distributing his likeness to the first 5,000 who attend today’s game against the Dodgers.

It is believed to be the first time a team has used the likeness of a player on another team for promotional purposes.

But the Expos have good reason. Last season, the team’s average attendance -- 10,031 -- more than doubled for bobble-head giveaway games.

Trivia answer: Nebraska’s Eric Crouch, who played in four exhibition games last season for the St. Louis Rams.

And finally: Eminem is the preferred pre-match music choice of soccer teams in the English Premier League, according to a survey.

Seven of the 20 clubs chose the rapper’s “8 Mile” album.

“Eminem’s determined, repetitive dance rhythms may help players reach an aroused, competitive state,” said Neil Todd, a Manchester University music psychologist.

-- Mike Hiserman